Bob Goodlatte Becomes First Member of Congress to Disclose Crypto Holdings

Bob Goodlatte, the chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, has reported his private cryptocurrency holdings – making Mr. Goodlatte likely the first member of the United States Congress to disclose private investments in the form of virtual currencies.

Member of U.S. Congress Holds Between $17,000 and $80,000 USD in Crypto

Representative Bob Goodlatte, the chair of the House Committee on the Judiciary, has reportedly become the first member of the United States Congress to report private cryptocurrency investments.

As per Mr. Goodatte’s annual financial disclosure report that was filed on the 10th of May 2018, Mr. Goodlatte owns Bitcoin Core (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Ethereum (ETH).

The report indicates that Mr. Goodlatte then owned between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of BTC, whilst also holding positions in BCH and ETH valued at between $1,001 and $15,000 each.

Representative Goodlatte a Likely Candidate for Crypto Holdings

Mr. Goodlatte’s private cryptocurrency investments have come as little surprise to some analysts, as Mr. Goodlatte’s son, Bobby Goodlatte Jr., is an angel investor in major cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase.

Mr. Goodlatte is also a member of the Congressional Blockchain Caucus – a bipartisan pro-cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology lobbyist group formed in 2017 by Arizona Republican, David Schweikert, and Colorado Democrat, Jared Polis.

On the 18th of June, the United States Office of Government Ethics published a legal advisory requiring all employees of the United States executive branch to disclose cryptocurrency ownership. The mandate gave lawmakers 45 days to report any virtual currency holdings, as with any other asset.

The advisory came following the efforts of Congressional Blockchain Caucus co-founder, Jared Polis, who, in February, petitioned the House Committee on Ethics to provide guidance regarding how politicians should disclose virtual currency holdings.

Many analysts are expecting Mr. Polis to also reveal cryptocurrencies holdings within the near future, given his actions and advocacy within the virtual currency sphere.

Do you expect more members of Congress to report private cryptocurrency investments? Join the discussion in the comments section below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Wikipedi

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